Never Ever
by Denwa
Summary: No such thing as “too far apart.” [Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura.]


**Title: **NEVER EVER  
**Author:**_the loved birds_  
**Warning:**Language and spoilers.  
**Pairings: **Naruto x Sasuke (you're-such-a-bastard!friendship), Sasuke x Sakura (punch-the-hell-out-of-you!friendship), and Naruto x Sakura (thank-you-for-being-there!friendship).  
**Summary:** There is a meaning to the world. There is a reason for everything. You just have to find it. (Naruto, and how the world only revolved around one person two years ago. This time, it'll be different in more reasons than one.)  
**Disclaimer: **The NARUTO manga belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. "I am…" and "NEVER EVER" belong to Hamasaki Ayumi.

* * *

**i. **もしも君に差し出せるモノがあるとすれば  
**if there was something i could give to you;**

It's strange, he thinks. It's strange, because why does _Sasuke_ matter so much to him, anyways? Why is bringing back _Sasuke_ his goal now? What had happened to Sakura? What had happened to being the Hokage? But it's still there; right in the middle of his heart buried so deep inside that he can't feel it anymore. Or right now. Or ever. But that's his dream, and _Sasuke_ is his dream, too, and Sakura will always be in his head.

And… well, Sakura was another story – completely different from the both of them. She had not known pain or betrayal or… or death or loneliness until she was twelve. Almost thirteen. And, just maybe, she had been the one that had connected _Sasuke_ and himself to living. To the norm. Their team was probably so screwed up that it was beyond society's acceptance. Or beyond that, and beyond that, because the sky is not the limit for them. But Naruto digresses, because society's pretty beyond saving. So he has to make a new one.

… Not that he'll pull an Uchiha Itachi, anyways. He's not gonna go homicidal and say, "Hate me" – Jesus, he doesn't even _have_ anybody to say "Hate me" to. Other than Konohamaru and Moegi and Udon and Sakura. Sasuke already hates him. Sai… is an ass (which is exactly why Sakura wants to beat the living daylights out of her replacement teammate). And, everybody else… probably thought that he was annoying. More than Sakura when she was twelve. Because, well… twelve-year-old girls probably did that. A lot. More than society's acceptance rate and blah, blah, blah.

Sakura was – _was_, he says – a religious little girl. Sasuke… is beyond redemption. Naruto himself is… agnostic? A _believer_. Or… _is_ there a greater power than God? (Love…? Any objections? None? Love it is, then…) And what about Kakashi? What about Tsunade? What about Jiraiya? It's hard to tell – Sasuke came from a traditional clan, so that might mean that he prayed. Sakura? He'll ask. And she'll probably smash his face in and break forty bones and dislocate sixty muscles and rip his spine out without killing him and, well…

That's just because Sakura is Sakura, and all.

* * *

**ii.** 変わらぬ確かな想い  
**it would be my unchanging, certain thoughts.**

Okay, so it turns out that Sakura had not attended Sunday mass for seven years in a row. That was strangely but pleasantly unexpected. So Sakura is… atheist? _Agnostic?_ It's confusing again. _To hell with suspense_, he had thought then, and asked her. She punched him so hard that he felt tears well up in his eyes and Sakura's eyes narrowed so much that he had left her alone after that.

And, well, what about Sasuke? It's not like he can just march up to him and ask, "Hey, Sasuke-teme! Do you believe in God?" Sasuke'll probably pull a Sakura and punch him. In the face. In the nose. And kick him where the sun don't shine. Sasuke's probably of royal blood, and people with royal blood are pissy and jerks and annoying and have seven-foot poles stuck up their asses.

_Seven_ seven-foot poles, because seven is (supposedly) a lucky number. Sort of.

The problem with Sasuke is that he has so many problems that introspectives (it's not a word when you add the "s") and detailed scientific reports with gigantic vocabulary can be written about his problems. Why is Sasuke so problematic? Why is he such an idiot? It's like, Naruto is stupid, yes. Life is… well, stupider than Naruto. But _Sasuke_ is stupider than Naruto and life put together, and, therefore, there is only one obvious conclusion that even that smelly dog-boy Kiba can come up with without the help of Hinata or Shino: Sasuke is stupid.

If you _still_ don't understand, the order from smartest to dumbest is Naruto-Life-Sasuke, who is a billion points behind.

And if Sasuke – it's hard to think about this – dies for no damn reason and Naruto becomes the Hokage of Konohagakure and everything is falling apart, the training mantra will _not_ be "By training, I will become stronger." Instead, the training mantra will be "Uchiha Sasuke's face looks like mold," because Sasuke is stupid and Naruto is stupid and Sakura will most likely punch his body all the way to Sunagakure where it's too _hot_ for orange-and-black jumpsuits, and that's just because Sakura is one scary woman.

Well, there's a happy thought, right?

* * *

**iii.** この瞳見つめて　私の名前を呼んでみて欲しいの  
**i want you to stare into my eyes and say my name.**

There's not gonna be a light at the end of the tunnel. There's not gonna be a ramen stand better than Ichiraku's at the end of the tunnel. In fact, Naruto is determined _not_ to _ever_ walk to the end of the tunnel. And if he thinks about it that way, then… Sasuke is about seven long strides to the end and Sakura is only at the middle-beginning and Naruto is… at the middle? At the middle, so he can watch Sasuke's ugly back. At the middle, so he can protect Sakura from harm's way.

At the middle, because… okay, so maybe he's a coward. The middle is where the medic-nin should be. The middle is where the least-experienced shinobi are. He is in the middle because he doesn't know what to do. And if there is _ever_ a book published about the soon-to-be greatest ninja of Konoha's history, then it's gonna be about him, not _Sasuke_. _Sasuke_ is not the savoir of the world; he's the antihero. The antihero with seven seven-foot poles stuck up his ass (that must be painful) and chicken-butt hair (if he weren't so handsome then he would've been made fun of).

So, anyways – he's going to take a few steps back (forget about _Sasuke_ for a moment and think about Sakura) and Sakura is going to take a few steps forwards because Sakura is perfectly capable by herself and so then it won't be Sakura-Naruto-Sasuke; it'll now be Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke, because Sasuke is still the ass since forever (starting at eight-years-old) and that's why he is last –

(Which does not explain the reason why Sakura is in the middle since she can kick all kinds of asses – why isn't she first again? Because she's too cool for first place. Because even though she _has_ grown up and can even hold up a weapon against Sasuke, Naruto still thinks of her as some twelve-year-old and that's going to get his beautiful – okay, so his face is not _beautiful_ – face smashed up. But, then again, that's how Sakura shows her affection for Naruto. By beating him up. And how does Sakura show love to Sasuke?)

Life is stupid and unfair, but Naruto is going to take Sakura by the hand and pull a Sasuke and go missing for "power" (note the _sarcasm_) because some emo-"brother" killed their "clans" and that's why they're going to go to "Orochimaru" (who _is_ dead – one million brownie points for Sasuke) to get "stronger" and then they're going to ambush Sasuke and kick his ass and Sakura can punch him all the way to Konohagakure if she has to.

And, well, if Lady Luck is being _especially_ kind to Naruto, maybe he'll get some chakra-control and pull a Sakura, just to scare the shit out of that bastard. Who really needs some scaring in his life. Well, _comical_ scaring. If you can call it comical. He'll probably avoid Naruto for the rest of his life and whenever he sees a big, scary blonde head around, he'll cling onto Sakura for dear life even though he'll brush it off as an impulse and she'll threaten to punch him and he won't let go of her because he looks like he's gonna die if he doesn't.

Which probably won't happen because Sasuke won't act _that_ out of character. And because Sasuke _has_ not fear, except… except…

Well, he's not afraid of anything except whatever goes on in that Sasuke-brain of his with the chicken-butt hair and the scary emotionless eyes because that's just Sasuke and Sasuke _is_ Sasuke, and Sai is still an ass.

* * *

**iv.** この手握って　大丈夫だって頷いて欲しいの  
**i want you to hold my hand and tell me that it'll be okay.**

When… well, if they _ever_ get to see Sasuke and go beat up his new teammates (what had happened to Team 7?), Naruto will back absolutely _sure_ that Sakura won't cry because crying _so_ does not fit her. Sakura is too pretty to cry; Sakura is too strong to cry. She just doesn't know it yet. Naruto knows that Sakura is the (literally) strongest girl he has ever known and before she cries, she needs to punch the hell out of Sasuke first. That's what they're here for, right? And, well, Kabuto was totally insane; Deidara and Tobi were just out of the picture; Suigetsu is _weird_; Juugo is _weirder_; and Sakura could totally beat the shit out of Karin – just _watch._

And, well, if (_when_) they ever get home, Sakura is going to punch the hell out of Sasuke, even if Naruto _makes_ her do it. _That_ will teach him to leave Sakura on a bench, crying and sad and heart-broken – goddamnit, she could've gotten hypothermia! It _was_ a cold night, wasn't it? And Naruto will beat the crap out of Sasuke _right there_, because even though Sakura had dibs on punching him, _Naruto_ was the one who had dibs on _kicking _him. Nothing an old kicking can't fix, right?

And they see Sasuke, sort of bloody and scratched and that Karin girl was just like Sakura when she was twelve and Suigetsu _tried_ not to laugh and Juugo still had that emotionless expression on his face and Sasuke merely looked at an angry Sakura and an angry Naruto and, well, the _others _(they're not cool enough to get their names mentioned).

_This time, it'll be different,_ Naruto thinks with a snarling face.

_This time, it'll be different, _Sakura thinks with a determined pose.

And Naruto rushes up to Sasuke, surprising everyone (especially Sakura – was that idiot _breaking their promise!?_ – who actually _had first dibs on beating Sasuke up_), but Sakura just smiled as she calculated Naruto's motives and smirked triumphantly. This time, it'll be different.

"This time, it'll be different!" Sakura yells as she pulled her gloves on.

"This time, it'll be different!" Naruto yells, repeating his female teammate as his kunai clashed with Sasuke's katana.

Because they were finally there to bring Sasuke back home.

* * *

**v. **私はずっと　たったひとつの言葉を探してる  
**and i have been searching for just one word.**

There is no hidden blue rose in Naruto's heart as he watches the boy in front of him. There is no yellow rose in Naruto's heart as he watches the boy look at the girl next to him. The world doesn't always revolve around one person unless you admire them so much that you continue to live just for them – that's stupid, as Sasuke found out. That's stupid, as Sakura found out. You just have to lift your head up and laugh at whatever God there is and challenge yourself and the world. You have to be _smart_, because…

Because there is a meaning to the world. There is a reason for everything.

You just have to find it.


End file.
